The Internet provides a domain name system (“DNS”) that maps domain names to other domain names, other objects, name servers, and, Internet Protocol addresses. Internet Protocol addresses shall hereinafter be referred to as “IP addresses,” which reference should also be understood in this disclosure to include equivalent private computer addresses. Domain names are a convenient alternative to IP addresses, as most humans have difficulty remembering and faithfully reproducing IP addresses like 209.19.43.100. A user who wants to view a web page associated with a domain name may enter the domain name (e.g., “acme.com”) in the address line of a browser. Following an iterative process described in paragraph 0002 of U.S. application number 20030009592, which paragraph is incorporated into this application by this reference, the domain name is mapped to an IP address.
Registries are the entities which operate the top-level domain names, or “TLDs.” For example, Verisign, Inc., presently operates the .com and net registries. Registries may, though typically do not, interact directly with registrants who wish to register domain names. Typically, registrants register domain names through intermediaries, called registrars. Registrars may be accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or “ICANN.” ICANN currently also controls the addition of new TLDs to the root domain name server and may enter into contracts with the registry operators which provide domain name registration services in the TLDs. The registries maintain databases of the domain names that are currently registered within each registries' TLD. When a prospective registrant submits a request to a registrar to register a domain name, the registrar submits the request to the relevant registry. Typically, the registry validates the request, timestamps the request, checks the request against the database of then-currently registered domain names, and may perform other operations. If the domain name was not then-currently registered, the registry allows the domain name to be registered by the first registrar to submit the request. Alternatively to the first-come first-served domain name registration model, other methods are sometimes employed, such as auction of domain names, “sunrise periods” (during which trademark claimants are offered preferential registration rights), and rights-of-first refusal (such as Verisign's proposed but not yet implemented “Wait List Service”). The registry returns the result(s) to the registrar(s) who requested the domain name registration service. If the domain name has previously been registered (if it is already listed in the database of then-currently registered domain names), the registry returns a code which indicates that the requested domain name registration is not available.
Practitioners skilled in the art would appreciate that, while this disclosure is primarily addressed to registries, registrars, and the public or quasi-public TLDs administered by ICANN and other bodies, that the disclosed invention can also be applied to analogous applications in the field of domain name and IP address systems, such as a privately managed domain name systems and privately managed computer networks. In this case, the “registry” is any person or entity which has authoritative control over the top level of a hierarchical domain or IP address or other computer address system; and in which case a “registrar” is a delegate of the “registry” with authoritative control over one or more levels of sub-domains or sub-addresses; and in which case a “registrant” is a delegate of the “registrar” with authoritative control over one or more levels of sub-domains or sub-addresses below the level of the “registrar.”
Domain names, once registered, can have various statuses, such as “registrar lock,” “registrar hold,” “pending delete,” and other statuses. These statuses may be viewed in the WHOIS output for a domain name (either as supplied by a registry or a registrar). In this disclosure, these statuses are referred to as parameters of a domain name, while the question of whether a character string is registered or not as a domain name is referred to in this disclosure as a domain name's “registration state” or “registration states.” Existing registries offer one binary registration state for character strings which are allowed in the TLD: a character string is either registered, in which case it is a domain name in the TLD, or it is not, in which case the character string is available to be registered (if a character string is not allowed in the TLD, then it can be neither registered nor available).
Domain name registration services incur real costs which are expended to maintain the operation of the registries, ICANN, and the registrars. These costs are typically recovered through fees. In the context of domain names, the registries typically charge fees of the registrars, which fees are passed along through various business models to the registrants. It should be noted that registrars and registries can also be registrants; as a consequence, in this disclosure, references to registrants shall be understood to include registrars and registries, when acting to register domain names on their own behalf, unless specifically noted otherwise. References to registrars or registries, however, shall not be understood to include registrants, except as noted otherwise.
The fees charged by the registries and registrars have a very real impact on the domain names which become registered, because not all domain names have a value equal to or greater than the minimum fee for which a domain name may be acquired. For example, the domain name <microsoft.com> is worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars and, hence, is assured registration. The domain name <ad2a9d3ocs.com> may have a value, but it is probably less than the current minimum one year registration fee for this domain name in this TLD, which, on Jun. 17, 2005, is at least $6.25, which does not include a markup for the registrar (Verisign, the operator of the .com TLD, charges a registration fee of $6.00, and ICANN charges a fee of $0.25). As a consequence, <ad2a9d3ocs.com> is unlikely to become a registered domain name, notwithstanding that it may have some value.
It is desirable to create a domain name registration system which would permit registration of domain names which may have a variable monetary value, including a low monetary value, which can allow market forces to control the allocation and assignment of domain names, which apportions risk associated with extending credit to pay for the cost of registration services, and which provides greater flexibility to recover of the costs of providing registration services. The disclosed invention accomplishes these objectives by providing more than one registration state for allowed character strings and IP addresses. To distinguish this use of “registration state” from the common usage of this term, this disclosure will use the term “registration state-type” to indicate that the domain name's registry offers potentially more than one registration state.
Certain of the registration state-types provided by the invention allow that a registered domain name may be reassigned to a second registrant without any act on the part of the previous registrant to reassign or transfer the domain name to the second registrant. Certain of the registration state-types provided by the invention allow that the registrant (or the authorized representative of the registrant) of a registered domain name may control all of the domain name's parameters, such as specification of domain name servers, while other of the registration state-types provide that certain of the parameters may not be controlled by the registrant. The interplay of the various registration state-types and parameters makes it possible for domain names to be registered regardless of the monetary value of the domain names, while providing means through which risk can be apportioned and through which registries and registrars can recover the costs of providing registration services.